Ford F150 Review | 1997-2003 | 10th Gen 

Every issue you can point out on these trucks is minor and preventable, these trucks have no quit in em, smooth as a sedan and the most durable engines I’ve ever encountered

I drive a '97 F-150 with 200,000 miles on it. My interior, except the sagging headliner, is still in great shape. It's very comfortable. I've made multiple 1,000 mile trips to see family in it. The 4.6 still runs great and all accessories still function properly. I am having an issue with the transmission shift lever not engaging in park properly and the body is beginning to rust a lot. Over all, it's a much better truck than the two Dodges I previously owned. I will definitely purchase another Ford truck in the future.

I got a '99 from my neighbor for 400 bucks and a case of beer. With a bit of TLC, I got a damn good truck!

Bought my truck brand new in July 2002 F150 XLT 4x4 super cab and currently has 397k on it with same engine and transmission. All I’ve done is basic oil changes and tuneup every 100k also had muffler shop put flow master dual exhaust and K&N air filter. Truck stills runs great and recently had compression checked at Ford dealership and came back with 181 pounds of pressure mechanic couldn’t believe engine was still in great condition but I take good care of all my vehicles and use nothing but synthetic oil and OEM equipment. Engine is a 4.6 Triton V8 which I was told it’s one of fords best engines.

I just bought a 97 with 43k miles. Love it! A gem!

The front seats are actually comfortable i would take 20-30 trips with a 2000 ford f150 xlt extended cab

Just bought my first pickup and it was this truck. Love me truck.

that F150 design was ahead of its time people used to call it fat or bulky..

It is an old model but it is an attractive F150 I've seen you well.

My '03 is great. I love how basic it is and simple. All I ever use is the climate controls. I have 256K @ 18 years old

My 10th gen F150 is fine, but all of my buddies who have similar era Chevys and GMCs all have rotting frames🤷‍♂️ The “competition” isn’t that great in the long run even though they are “better”.

my uncle had that same colour in his f150 and thats what made me become interested in this generation of f150. the hunter green is a nice colour for sure. i cant stand red blah! now i own a black supercab

Still driving an 03 with the 4.2v6 187000 miles. No valve tick, no knock, no smoke.... Those leaf springs make for a smooth ride. Ripped the old bench out and now we have King ranch seats inside an XLT. Great truck

I bought brand new, a 2002 F150 super cab lariat 4x4 with 5.4 engine, and leather interior, the odometer just turned over to 102,000, the truck has always been kept in my garage since the day I bought it, Ive been retired for 15 years and very seldom use it anymore. It’s like brand new, but people say, it’s only worth about $3,500-$4,000 tops , so it’ll just stay in the garage till I am called to meet my maker , then the kids can decide what to do with it.

My 97 f150 4..2 2wd rides fine..handles fine...and I like the dash.the 97 was motor trend truck of the year...i think you were a bit harsh on it.

2000 F150 XLT v6 5-speed manual transmission with 237K miles on the ticker. Best selling trucks in history for a reason.

This actually had a holdover year in 2004, called the 2004 F150 heritage.

I own a 02 f150 lariat and I love it, I use i drive it more than I do my new tundra.

Good review, thanks.

Solid review, one of the most reliable F-150 generations. I couldn’t disagree more about the Ford interiors not holding up though. They often hold up exceptionally well, much better than the crap from Chrysler or GM’s that just love to fall apart. The Ford’s once again blew away the competition out of the water in this generation.

i bought a 00 gold f150 from my boss for 800 bucks , the truck has been great. It has 216,000 miles. Its has the color matched fiberglass bed cover.

I still have a 1998 F150 xlt lariat. Beautiful truck inside and out with 170,000 miles. Rebuilt the head gaskets about 7k miles ago because my smart brother never told me that he didn’t change the oil for 8k miles, so we starved it from oil. I am looking for a single cab short bed 4x4 in California.

I Drive A 99 F150 Lariat 4x4 5.4 Triton, Really Useful Engine! Back In The Days When My Grandpa Bought It, (In 2001) It Never Had Any Accidents, But The Plug Problem Happened. He Drove It For 14 Years, And I Remember Back Then. It Blew Plugs, And It Sat For 6 Years (The Mechanics Lied To Him About A Ruined Engine) And In Oct 2021 (It’s 23rd Anniversary) It Got Fixed! Went To The Shop 5 Times (Nothing Too Serious) And I Love This Ol Fella! It’s A Sharp Looking Rig, And It’s Doing Great! It Now Reached 165k Miles!

I just bought one, due to shortage of trucks in canada I paid 4300 for a 4x4 with 275k km. Love it

I had a 98 F-150. XLT, off-road package, 5.4L engine, pacific green in color. It was a sweet truck but started rusting out around 11-12 years old because of NY winters. No other complaints with it though.

Got me 2003 4 door f150 truck with 117k miles for 9k and I love it.

I have a '97 three door, which I use for hauling wood. It has 290,00 miles on it, and just won't give it up. I'll haul cords of wood during the day in terrible conditions, and then go off-roading late into the night, and it just keeps going! I have found the interior to be good actually -- only my steering wheel is is falling apart, and hauling six is a big advantage. Independent front suspension makes it great off pavement, even at high speed, I have found. Great trucks!

I love my 2002 f150 my buddy has a 2500 chevy and the seats are shot my 02 has 80,000 on it and the interior still looks new im just a ford guy had one chevy in my life and it was my last

Cupholder is an easy fix. Gently pry out the holder, reach in and retrieve the detached chrome spring, drill a couple small holes the the cupholder where the spring had been attached, re-affix spring to cupholder with a couple small sheet metal screws and you're done!

Had an 03 and loved it but the only issues were the Rust along the same areas of the as other F150s and the 5.4 Triton V8 Headgasket issue which is a known Ford issue

My 01 runs great to this day, it has only 90,000 miles tho….. but I have had very limited problems with it and I love the sound of the 4.6 l v8 engine!

My dad got a 2000 lariat (formerly a work truck) for $300 for me to drive when I get my license. and that was an absolute steal everything except for the power mirrors and the cup holder works, runs smooth too

Got a black 03 FX4 Super cab w/ 4.6 104k and mint. Simplistic all around, feels like a truck and w/ a Magnafow cat back that 2v Modular gives an authentic tuned ford sound. I also don’t know of a more stout and reliable package built to date in American truck history. GM’s had some of there worst years through this era, plus they sit as low as a car and dodge, well, if you got a good one, you were lucky. Whilst they may not be the most powerful in the lineup, they certainly have enough guts to get out of their own way. The 4r70w is bulletproof and the 9.75” pumpkin w/ 3.55’s make for great highway driving. Most of all, super easy to work on and wrench hand friendly. The 10th gen’s will always be the red headed step child with their styling but as style is relevant, I personally think they are a handsome machine with a beautiful stance. These trucks truly are “Built Ford Tough”.

Buying a 2001 5.4 liter with 114,000 miles on it. Hope she holds up well

1974 was when Ford first started producing super cab pickups which was back when the 6th generation F-series pickups were in production.

My michigan 01super cab has a rusted. Out rockers and bed but I love it. It's 20 yr old.

I have a 2003, F150, 7700, 4WD, extra cab. I've had to trouble shoot/repair the cruise control, but other than that (and also jammed cup holder, ha ha) it's been a solid, trouble free, truck.

Other trucks might look better but F150s don’t die

It's Jan. 2020, just bought a 1998 F150 108K. It looks and runs great, no rust. Update, spoke to soon. Just replace the muffler, bunch of parts on the front end and I need the valve covers replaced. Still, I don't think it qas a bad buy.

3/21/21... I have '03 fx4 F-150 with only 80k miles on it and love truck. Funny how many ppl ask me to buy it every time I drive it to town.

My dealer is selling one for 4,997 here. I seen that it had a ball for the hitch but I was wondering if there was a way to remove the ball for other hitch recievers or if it could take a hitch reciever in addition to the ball.

Bought a modded one for 3000$ and it looks brand new got a great deal for it it’s an awesome truck

I just bought an 03 F150 4x4 supercrew. It had a total drive train replacement 45,000 miles ago. (new engine, New transmission and transfer case, also new and upgraded read end which upgraded the towing capacity to 10,000 lbs. It has the paperwork to prove this, it also has the metal stamp on the engine and frame from the Ford dealership with the date and new serial number of the engine. Should I be worried about the spark plug issue on this truck? or did they have this pretty much sorted out by 03?

The 10th gen really is bulletproof, the only big problems are not that bad as they are easy fixes, issue include the rear window leaking, egr/dpfe issues, at worst the intake manifold may crack at 200,000 miles but for $250 u can buy a dorman manifold and install it urself in abour 3hrs or less. If u buy one do urself a favor and get rid of that massive restrictive muffler, replace the spark plugs and put antisieze on em, upper control arms usually at 150k or worse, and get seat covers, the leather interior models get tuff with age. Also get better headlights the halogens are laughable at night. Cold air intake,tune and exhaust and im getting about 20mph on the highway, 17 in the city, but im running stock size tires and factory rake on the 5.4 supercrew

I would have to disagree. 2001 was more of a rugged work truck. Very sturdy and fast fixes. The 1997 was actually more comfortable, with larger engine. My 2001 is a work truck for summer because heater core went out. My 1997 is my favorite. More comfortable and much power with the 4.6 instead of 4.2. Both super crew. The 1997 only had one side that opened on passenger side. Both auto trans. Both trucks are very reliable. Agree on interior though. You're right. Could be better. By the way the 2001 has 385,000 miles on it.

10th gen is best gen

I have a 1997 Chevy 1500 but my second truck is gonna have to be a 10th gen f150👍

Nice video, thank you what color is that? I've got a 1997 5.4 l 4X4 and it's that bright green with the tan stripe along the bottom it's just a bit too bright of a green, with too much metallic, ao I'm thinking of painting it solid dark green with just a slight bit of metallic.

Think if they made this body style Aluminum, Put the Turbo V6 model they have in modern truck in it. It would probably get loads better fuel economy then the Brick they have now. The LED screen above mirror does not give EPA. It only is a Compass/Outside Temp cluster.

The 9th generation ones are my favorite.

I baught the 2002 ford f150 v8 triton and it has over 260k on it and it runs great its got the 7 lug so its the heavy half great truck

What’s the wheel and tire set up ?

The 2000 is much better to work on than the 97. The coil pack on the 97 is on the passenger valve cover and the 2000 is on the intake the 97 is very difficult to work on but one thing i hate about both is the runner control valves is mounted to back of block

The interior and ride quality much better from GM and dodge? Hahaha 😂😂

You forgot to mention the 7700 F150 heavy duty package. It was a cross between a f250 and a f150.

Just my opinion, but I would imagine the bad rep of the " jellybean " Taurus was a consideration when potential buyers looked at this truck, coupled with new engine designs. Truck buyers can be quite conservative.

I've had 2 different 2001 f150's one 4.6 and 1 current 5.4... Both over 200,000 miles... Both intake manifold problems... But we all know that... Lol

10th gen F150 were much, much, MUCH better trucks than the 11th gen F150 was, that’s for sure. In almost every way, even down to the paint quality

That interior was abused. I’ve had two 10th gens 01 &02 and at almost 200k each they didn’t look anywhere near that bad. And to say Dodges with disintegrating dashes have a better interior?

You can’t compare an xlt to other luxury trucks. If you wanna compare get a lariat or a king ranch

Looking at an 03 super Lariat. 497km on engine 250 on tranny. Debating....its absolutley clean

Which design of the Ford F150s do you like better the curvy Swoopy looking design or much more square and muscular aka boxy designs

Super crew doesn’t mean smaller bed than the one you are showing here. 6.5 is available with a super crew

4.2L V6 had miss on right bank a lot ?why?

My 97 4.2 in portofino blue drives like a cloud

Hola amigo . Espero me pueda asesorar con su experiencia. Agarre una f150 v6.4.2mod.97estandar americana . Pero le falta la balloneta . Ya que en mi estado no lo venden . Mi duda es .cuánto mide esa balloneta y cuánto aceite lleva .espero me asesore .saludos ..

What you said completely belies the truck's modern and refined appearance. Is this a case of deceptive packaging, or are you biased?

What are those tires?

i had one of these loved it wish the motor was as reliable as my chevy

I’m 17 and am thinking of buying a f150 form the year 200 and the one I’m looking at has 140k miles, my dad thinks it will fail in me cause it’s a Ford but i want it and will take care of it, idk if I should buy it

Somethings been bugging me about my truck for a while. It's a 98 4.6 extended cab, but I cant figure out what trim it is. Theres no trim badges on it, the badges it does have just say F150. And there is no holes/ evidence where a trim badge would've been if someone had taken them off in the past. Very strange. It has an AM/FM radio w/ cassette player, power doors and windows, manual cloth seats, A/C, and a sliding rear window. I want to say it's an XLT, but it's always been my understanding XLT comes with a leather wrapped steering wheel, mine does not. If theres any ford experts here, I want some opinions on what trim it is. It's an old construction truck, so I'm guess maybe it was a custom order from the factory or something.

This man really said GM and Dodge interiors were better?

I swear I 100000% honestly I thought this was james "STRADMAN" video from years ago,damm,you sure you guys arent brothers

Bought a 2003 Ford F150 4.6L v8 with 52,000 miles. Look brand new.

If I could buy a new one of these trucks I would. They were much better built.

“So got to note the seats are not all that comfortable” I got a 97 f150 XL with a bench seat so no center console and even though it had no center console I still think it’s the most comfortable seat out of my 2 trucks I had 01 Dakota and 08 f150 XL, I’ll have my right arm on the top the the bench seat and having my right hand resting on the passage headrest.

are you the stradman's brother?

i am looking at one to tow my boat, weight is close to 8000lbs. owner thinks its a 4.6 but i'm hoping its a 5.4. If its a 4.6 is there any upgrades that are affordable to get it to 8000bls towing capacity ?

Hey how is the stock speakers and radio in it?

Anyone have frame rot on these trucks ? If so how bad

Looking at an 03 5.4l with 200,000 for $6500 should i get it king ranch??

That steering wheel is rough the dealer should of left the steering wheel cover on it.

I had a 97 4.6 and I absolutely despised it. The towing performance was pitiful and nothing about the truck held up well. Sold it and never looked back. I'm not a Ford hater either. I had an 87 5.0 that was a great truck. Towed great and was reliable. I had more trouble out of the 97 in 140k than I did the 87 at 260k.

Can you fit two liter bikes at the back of the bed?🤔

What type of rims are those

I am getting a 2004 f150 4.6 4x4 stepside automatic. I hate it so bad. Im watching a bunch of videos trying to hype myself

You should have spoke about the awful modular motor they put in it and the spark plugs that auto eject from the heads. A mechanics nightmare on maintenance. Just thankful that the 2020 models are going back to pushrod motors.

engine sounds bad. Rod knock?

Anyone else's F150 eat coil packs or is it just mine ?

Your wrong buddy this generation ran 1997 thru 2004 heritage edition

Ford F150 is better than al that ELECTRIC CRAP out there! REAL FUEL AND REAL TRUCK IS WHERE IT IS ALL ABOUT, I AM DRIVING MY F150 RIGHT NOW ON A DIRT ROAD!

These were made from MY 1997 to 2004, not 2003.

Be careful because they call these a can, they fold up like a soda can when you crash.

I came here to listen to Yandhi. WTF is this?

Sorry buddy but this is a baddddd i mean bad review. you rather choose gm and dodge thats what u said at the end of the video. yea well dodge has made the worst transmissions and engines and have proven to be unreliable and gm had a terrible transmission the 4l60e. the gen 10 f150 is deffinitley the way to go i have 330 000 kms original drivetrain on mine. you would be lucky to get 180 000kms with a dodge or gm. ouch.....

Is driving this truck abusive reliable

I like these trucks, the one thing that I hate though are the aluminum heads, I'd rather pay more in gas with cast iron heads than to save a little money with aluminum. I also hate that the spark plugs can shoot out, that's because there's not enough threads on the head and it's aluminum!! Otherwise this truck would seem almost perfect in my opinion.

Dude, you’re straight up out to lunch on the interior assessment. Dodge has a nicer interior said no one ever. Silverado was very much comparable feature and comfort wise but were made of much, MUCH cheaper materials and age far worse

not the highest quality on interiors, man I'd hate to see what you think of the ram and it's blatant shit tier plastic interiors lol that said the Chevy did have a nice interior, even if the truck was trash all that said, have fun with your "better" trucks lol

Down hill after this